As is known, artificial trees, particularly artificial Christmas trees, usually comprise a central support column from which artificial boughs extend. The boughs are formed from essentially straight wire members to which plastic straws or strips, resembling pine needles, are secured. The artificial boughs are secured to the upright column in various ways and usually must be inserted or removed one-by-one in assembling or disassembling the tree. Ordinarily, the upper part of the tree is formed in one part and comprises a plug or cap carried on the upper extremity of the support column, the plug being provided with projecting artificial boughs of relatively short length to form the upper apex of the tree.
Aside from the fact that such prior art artificial trees are formed from a relatively large number of parts which must be assembled and disassembled, they require a shipping carton of relatively large size, necessitating the use of a large amount of warehouse space by distributors and retailers who sell them.